There are just some days I wish I didn't turn wrenches

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Ok, so today my AL friend dropped off her 2005 Tahoe LS for the brake pedal upper bushing. There was a severe rattle from the pedal, under dash area, when went over bumps.
No pics from underneath because was just too crowded and there is a few videos at you tube to look at. Here is a link to a good one:

I took the driver's seat out and laid under there and reached up but was still very cramped. Hard to take apart the pivot bolt but all nut and bolts removed, including at seat, were thread chased and was way smoother going back together. The pivot bolt is 18mm at each end. The seat nuts at front take an E18 and the back bolts take an E14.

I also installed a new brake light switch. Everything went to plan and was a 3 hour job.

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Tonyrodz

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Ok, so today my AL friend dropped off her 2005 Tahoe LS for the brake pedal upper bushing. There was a severe rattle from the pedal, under dash area, when went over bumps.
No pics from underneath because was just too crowded and there is a few videos at you tube to look at. Here is a link to a good one:

I took the driver's seat out and laid under there and reached up but was still very cramped. Hard to take apart the pivot bolt but all nut and bolts removed, including at seat, were thread chased and was way smoother going back together. The pivot bolt is 18mm at each end. The seat nuts at front take an E18 and the back bolts take an E14.

I also installed a new brake light switch. Everything went to plan and was a 3 hour job.

View attachment 453282View attachment 453283View attachment 453284View attachment 453286
My brake pedal has alot of side to side movement when i hit a large pothole. That's what it must be.
 
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My brake pedal has alot of side to side movement when i hit a large pothole. That's what it must be.
You can bet it rattles too but you may have tuned it out. When it was all back together it had no movement and pivoted freely. The video tells it all and is a good time for a new brake light switch. The seat removal is your choice but the job would have been a "no go" for me without removing seat. The actual bolt removal and bushing replacement is a cinch. It is the access that makes it a bit rough. The two ears that the pedal pivot fit up in to, are tight enough that with the new bushing width, the pedal can be wedged up in there and will hold itself so that you can slide the bolt in. The bolt has a shoulder at the thread end. That is where the bolt stops when pushing thru. I cannot stress enough to chase all threads for reassembly. Makes the reassembly way easier.
 
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Did an oil change and inspection today on my dentist's assistant's 2009 Silverado K2500HD 6.0. 154435 miles. Had to remove the aluminum skid plate to keep from oil running all over. 4 bolts, 15mm head, and easy drop and reinstall. They had been told by another local shop that the transmission fluid was dark and needed changed. The fluid is bright red and clean and full. The transmission cooling lines are leaking but the other shop said nothing. The oil cooler lines are dry. Did not see any other leaks. The other shop said the shocks needed replaced because were leaking. They are bone dry and work just fine. There were numerous other "concerns" and the only thing I agreed with was when I looked under the hood 2 months ago, before she finally got it to me, that the battery was nasty and corroded badly and old and needed replaced. They had a battery store in town put a new one in. The shop said ball joints were bad, there was not any play.

I did hear a noise in the cab, windows down or up, when in reverse or drive at idle. Park or neutral and noise greatly diminished. Mechanic's stethoscope to the rescue. When she got there and could hold the brake in gear at idle, I traced to noisy tensioner bearing and idle bearing. I cleaned the stethoscope ears and showed her where to place the probe and she could hear it too. She had heard the noise in the cab but disregarded it. I told her not an emergency but will be needed soon. Her headlights housings were very clouded and showed her that. She said she thought the headlights should be brighter and now knows why.

She left happy.


BUT. Recently my VA doctor said that based on symptoms of a hot feeling, intermittently in my right groin area and what he felt with his probing fingers, that I have the signs of an Inguinal Hernia and recommended that if I continue to work on vehicles, I will, I need to do the less strenuous tasks and not lift anything heavy. That may put an end to removing and replacing tires/wheels for inspections and brake work. Any heavy steering and suspension work. I do believe my age and years of bodily abuse in the trenches is catching up to me.

That means that my upcoming work on my 2004 Silverado K2500HD, at my friends shop, may have to be a lot of my friend and less of me.

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BUT. Recently my VA doctor said that based on symptoms of a hot feeling, intermittently in my right groin area and what he felt with his probing fingers, that I have the signs of an Inguinal Hernia and recommended that if I continue to work on vehicles, I will, I need to do the less strenuous tasks and not lift anything heavy. That may put an end to removing and replacing tires/wheels for inspections and brake work. Any heavy steering and suspension work. I do believe my age and years of bodily abuse in the trenches is catching up to me.

That means that my upcoming work on my 2004 Silverado K2500HD, at my friends shop, may have to be a lot of my friend and less of me.

That particular type of hernia is very common in older men. I had laparoscopic surgery for mine -- bilateral, both sides -- in 2018 and after healing no lifestyle changes were needed. I never looked back and it doesn't bother me at all now. You might want to consider surgery, but would need some recovery time afterward. Of course your doctor would be a good source for information.
 
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That particular type of hernia is very common in older men. I had laparoscopic surgery for mine -- bilateral, both sides -- in 2018 and after healing no lifestyle changes were needed. I never looked back and it doesn't bother me at all now. You might want to consider surgery, but would need some recovery time afterward. Of course your doctor would be a good source for information.
Did you need both sides or did you do both while in there? Recommended to do both by doctor? What was your recovery time? I would assume that the recovery time can be different depending on the person and the severity of the hernia(s).

Is the surgery something like the mesh things I heard there were problems with?
 
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Did you need both sides or did you do both while in there? Recommended to do both by doctor? What was your recovery time? I would assume that the recovery time can be different depending on the person and the severity of the hernia(s).

One side was diagnosed but the surgeon said that many times the other side is starting to open up without showing up on the MRI. He asked if he could do both while he was in there, if the other one could be verified, and I said as long as he can prove it to insurance, yes. One procedure, and done.

Your surgeon would have more detailed recommendations and those are good questions to ask. As far as my recovery time I think it was somewhat light duty for two or three months. I'm not sure the severity comes into play; they use a mesh to repair no matter what and that just needs to heal. Surgeon will be well aware of older mesh styles that have had problems but should use the best that is currently available.
 
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OK, thanks for that info. I have a follow up with the VA doctor and will ask about all that. They tried to give me an elastic hernia support belt with removable pads that hold pressure on the hernia. Problem is, I got no ass and it rode down all the time and I took it off after 1 day. It needs something like suspenders to hold it up.
 
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Neighbor up the street with 2017 Cherokee 3.2 V6. Called for an oil change and tire rotation. Told her about the hernia and she still wanted the oil change done. No problem. 30 minute job and $50 labor and $45 labor on the Silverado this morning. The Cherokee is one I did the oil filter cooler/housing replacement on about 1.5 years ago. Still dry as a bone. I have done about 1/2 dozen of those oil cooler/filter housing replacements. Every time I see a Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep product, I look for the wet oil reflection just below the filter housing, down in the valley on top of engine. Pretty easy to do and I always always do the knock sensors.
 

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